NHL just released the statement and they're not going. I couldn't care less but it's interesting to see if all the players that said they were going will actually stick to their words. I'm looking at you Ovi.

Now they won't have to make up a country just so they can put more NHL players in the tournament. They need to go back to the 72 and 76 format when only real countries were allowed to have national teams.

Now they won't have to make up a country just so they can put more NHL players in the tournament. They need to go back to the 72 and 76 format when only real countries were allowed to have national teams.

I doubt not going to South Korea or any Olympics will have any impact on their decision on how to deal with the World Cup of Hockey. It was a joke of a tournament but you're right, it will never equate to the Olympics unless they allow all countries to participate in the tournament.

Its obvious the NHL care more about themselves than the fan or the players. Selfish IMO

If you love hockey, you should care about this. Its possibly the greatest display of hockey. IMO even better than the Stanley Cup finals (unless my team was in it). I really hope the AHL, WHL etc let their players go so at least we can watch our prospects.

This is annoying - the NHL is in a position where it is the world's dominant league in a global sport, but that means it needs to act more responsibly, not less, I feel.

There was some ray of hope, that I read though, quoted below:

"The NHL has not decided whether to allow teams to make decisions on a case-by-case basis about players participating in the 2018 Olympics."

This is not dissimilar to conflicts between the African Cup of Nations and European soccer league schedules, which usually get resolved to everyones' satisfaction.

There seems to be some support from team owners too:

""If Alex Ovechkin and Braden Holtby and Nick Backstrom tell us, 'We want to go play for our country,' how am I going to say no?" Capitals owner Ted Leonsis said in February. "I might get fined, I might get punished in some way, but I feel I'm in partnership with Nick and Braden and Alex.""

Also, the NHL needs to be careful - given the location of the tournament, it is fairly possible the KHL might significantly build this into their season and make a point of making the NHL look bad. I saw Canada play Hungary earlier this season, icing a team made almost entirely of KHL players, Sweden played Hungary yesterday, using a team that was either domestic or KHL based. There's the talent there to showcase other leagues in the world.